The United Nations has said on Monday that the exile of the main Venezuelan opposition candidate for the presidential elections last July, Edmundo Gonzalez, is not “the end of the crisis” in Venezuela.
“We remain very concerned about the situation in Venezuela following the presidential elections on July 28,” said the spokesman for the UN Secretary General, Stéphane Dujarric, in a press conference when asked about Gonzalez’s departure.
He also reiterated the call of the United Nations “for the full protection and respect of Human Rights.” “The Secretary General continues to urge all parties to resolve electoral disputes by peaceful means,” he added.
Regarding the recent actions of the Government of Nicolás Maduro in the Argentine Embassy in Caracas – where six members of the opposition Vente Venezuela have been sheltered since mid-March – Dujarric has pointed out that it is essential to “reaffirm the principle of inviolability of diplomatic and consular premises.”
“This principle must be respected at all times, in all cases, throughout the world, according to International Law, according to the treaties signed by the Member States,” he stressed, adding that he hopes that the parties resolve their differences “for the benefit of all Venezuelans.”
Regarding this dialogue, Dujarric has stressed that the United Nations “is available” as an actor “to help mediate between the parties,” although he has assured that for the moment they are not involved in any process of this type.
His words come after Venezuela revoked Brazil’s recognition as Argentina’s diplomatic representative in the Venezuelan capital, alleging that the use of these Argentine diplomatic facilities was being used to plan “terrorist activities” and “assassination attempts.”
Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González arrived in Madrid on Sunday after leaving Caracas on a Spanish Air Force plane after spending more than a month under the protection of the Netherlands Embassy. On September 5, he moved to the Spanish diplomatic headquarters and left the country on Saturday.
González published a letter on Monday in which he explains to Venezuelans his decision to move to Spain and in which he maintains that he has made the decision thinking about his family but also that “things will change” and a new stage can open up in Venezuela.
